Ogres

An ogre (feminine: ogress) is a legendary monster depicted as a large, hideous, man-like being that eats ordinary human beings, especially infants and children. Ogres frequently feature in mythology, folklore, and fiction throughout the world. They appear in many classic works of literature, and are most often associated in fairy tales and legend.

In mythology, ogres are often depicted as inhumanly large, tall, and having a disproportionately large head, abundant hair, unusually colored skin, a voracious appetite, and a strong body. Ogres are closely linked with giants and with human cannibals in mythology. In both folklore and fiction, giants are often given ogrish traits (such as the giants in "Jack and the Beanstalk" and " Jack the Giant Killer", the Giant Despair in ''The Pilgrim's Progress'', and the Jötunn of Norse mythology); while ogres may be given giant-like traits.

Famous examples of ogres in folklore include the ogre in " Puss in Boots" and the ogre in "Hop-o'-My-Thumb". Other characters sometimes described as ogres include the title character from "Bluebeard", the Beast from ''Beauty and the Beast'', Humbaba from the ''Epic of Gilgamesh'', Grendel from ''Beowulf'', Polyphemus the Cyclops from Homer's ''Odyssey'', the man-eating giant in "Sinbad the Sailor" and the oni of Japanese folklore.

Etymology

The word ''ogre'' is of French origin, originally derived from the Etruscan god Orcus. Its earliest attestation is in Chrétien de Troyes' late 12th-century verse romance ''Perceval, li contes del graal'', which contains the lines:

The ''ogres'' in this rhyme may refer to the ogres who were, in the pseudohistorical work '' History of the Kings of Britain'' by Geoffrey of Monmouth, the inhabitants of Britain prior to human settlement.

The word ''orco'' was widely used in Italy at least since 13th century, as attested by Jacomo Tolomei who, in the sonnet "" ("The many fables, my friend, people tell" – before 1290), compares popular characters of fairy tales, like ogres (whose specific characteristic was to eat people), giants, witches and talking animals, to real people he could see in his city of Siena. The Italian author Giambattista Basile (1575–1632) used the related Neapolitan word ''uerco'', or in standard Italian, ''orco'' in some of his tales, and first talks of female orcs (IE in Petrosinella). This word is also documented in earlier Italian works ( Fazio degli Uberti, 14th century; Luigi Pulci, 15th century; Ludovico Ariosto, 15th–16th centuries). An even older related word is Old English ''orcnēas'' found in Beowulf lines 112–113, which inspired J.R.R. Tolkien's '' orc''.

The word ''ogre'' came into wider usage in the works of Charles Perrault (1628–1703) or Marie-Catherine Jumelle de Berneville, Comtesse d' Aulnoy (1650–1705), both of whom were French authors. The first appearance of the word ''ogre'' in Perrault's work occurred in his ''Histoires ou Contes du temps Passé'' (1696). It later appeared in several of his other fairy tales, many of which were based on the Neapolitan tales of Basile. The first example of a female ogre being referred to as an ''ogress'' is found in his version of ''Sleeping Beauty'', where it is spelled ''ogresse.'' Madame d'Aulnoy first employed the word ''ogre'' in her story '' L'Orangier et l'Abeille'' (1698), and was the first to use the word ''ogree'' to refer to the creature's offspring.

In modern fiction

In modern times, ogres have appeared in the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game as large, powerful humanoid creatures, with slightly below average intelligence, throughout its editions as adversaries but also playable characters. The ogre was counted among the ten best low-level monsters by the authors of ''Dungeons & Dragons for Dummies''. They posit that the ogre "teaches players about fighting big, powerful, stupid monsters, which is an iconic D&D experience".

The green-skinned ogre Shrek is a fictional character created by the American author William Steig that since 1990 has appeared in a book, several movies by DreamWorks Animation, a TV series, and a musical.

The Ogre Mulgarath is the main antagonist in ''The Spiderwick Chronicles'' books series (also adapted into a film and a TV series).

Ogres make up the army of Duke Igthorn, antagonists in ''Adventures of the Gummi Bears''.
In this children's TV series, they are presented as anthropomorphized creatures, emphasized through neomedieval trappings in clothing and equipment.

In Smurfs, ogres appear human-like but are stouter than humans.

In Disenchantment, Elfo's maternal family are ogres which makes him a hybrid between an ogre and an elf.

Fairy tales that feature ogres

* "Bearskin"
* " The Bee and the Orange Tree"
* " Corvetto"
* " The Dove"
* " The Enchanted Doe"
* " Finette Cendron" or "Cunning Cinders"
* " The Flea"
* " Garulfo"
* "Hop-o'-My-Thumb"
* " Liisa and the Prince"
* " Mr Miacca"
* " Puss in Boots"
* " The Selfish Giant"
* "Sleeping Beauty"
* " Tale of the Ogre"
* " The Three Crowns"
* " Violet"

Gallery

In illustration

File:Giovanni Lanfranco - Norandino and Lucina Discovered by the Ogre - WGA12455.jpg, Giovanni Lanfranco: '' Norandino and Lucina Discovered by the Ogre'', oil on canvas, c. 1624
File:Barbebleue.jpg, Gustave Doré (1832–1883): ''Bluebeard'', woodcut from an 1862 edition of ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''
File:Poucet10.jpg, Gustave Doré: Illustration for '' Le Petit Poucet'', 1862
File:Poucet8.JPG, Gustave Doré: Illustration for ''Le Petit Poucet'', 1862
File:Däumling.jpg, Alexander Zick (1845–1907): Illustration for '' Der kleine Däumling''
File:Der kleine Daumling (2).jpg, The ogre and his wife, illustration for ''Hop-o'-My-Thumb'' from a late-19th-century German fairy tale book
File:Oni in pilgrim's clothing.jpg, An oni in pilgrim's clothing
File:Kyosai Oni in priest's robes.jpg, Kawanabe Kyōsai (1831–1889): An oni in wandering Buddhist priest's robes, 1864
File:Oni pelted by beans.jpg, Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849): An oni being chased away by scattered beans, detail of a print
File:Australian ogre 1900.jpg, Political cartoon from 1900 depicting Australia as an ogre and referencing its origins as a penal colony

In sculpture

File:Kleinduimpje Efteling.jpg, The ogre from ''Hop-o'-My-Thumb'' at Efteling, Netherlands
File:Ogre king at Mandalay Hill.jpg, An ogre king represented at Mandalay Hill, Myanmar
File:Sanda Muhki, Mandalay Hill, Myanmar.jpg, The ogress Sanda Muhki represented at Mandalay Hill
File:Oni.jpg, A Japanese oni
File:鬼山地獄PB060318.jpg, An oni in Beppu, Kyushu
File:4377 - Bern - Kindlifresserbrunnen am Kornhausplatz.JPG, Ogre Fountain (lit. "Child Eater Fountain") at Corn House Square, Bern, Switzerland .

See also

* Buggane
* Child cannibalism
* Darkspawn
*Daeva
* :Fictional ogres
*Giant (mythology)
*Goliath
*Jinn
*Ke'let
* Mapinguari
*Rakshasa
* Stallo
*Troll
* Wendigo

References

Further reading

*Briggs, Kathrine Mary.
The Fairies in Tradition and Literature
'' London: Routledge, 2002.
*"Ogre." ''Encyclopædia Britannica Online''. 15 May 2006
search.eb.com
*Rose, Carol. ''Giants, Monsters, & Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth''. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001.
*Shippey, Tom. ''The Road to Middle-earth''. London: HarperCollins, 1992 (rev.).
*South, Malcolm, ed. ''Mythical and Fabulous Creatures: A Source Book and Research Guide.'' Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1987. Reprint, New York: Peter Bedrick Books, 1988.

External links

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Monsters
Mythological creatures
Supernatural legends
English legendary creatures
German legendary creatures
Medieval European legendary creatures
Mythic humanoids
French legendary creatures
Italian legendary creatures